Main stream parties’ duty bound to protect special status of J&K: Er. Rasheed

Appeals Hurriyat to support mainstream parties in safeguarding Article 35A

Sopore, Aug 04: Asking mainstream as well as separatist parties to look ahead of their party stands and devise strategies for resolving Kashmir issues as per the aspirations of people, Er. Rasheed has said that the mainstream parties were ‘duty bound’ to safeguard the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

A press release issued here said that while interacting with people of various sections at Spore today, Er. Rasheed claimed that while the ‘weaknesses’ of mainstream parties had emboldened New Delhi, ‘JRL’ and other ‘pro-resistance’ forces should not make preserving 35-A as their lone goal as people of the state, from Gilgit to Lakhanpor, needed nothing less than right to ‘self determination’.

“Since both main stream and Separatist parties claim to be fighting for the rights of people, let every political force prove its sincerity and let Huriyat not get trapped in the Chanakiyan game of New Delhi. Despite huge failures under current circumstances main stream politics is still relevant but their vision about Kashmir and road map to resolve the dispute is entirely different than the aspirations, sentiments and sacrifices of masses. However pro-resistance groups including JRL are being seen by masses as custodians of their sacrifices,” Rasheed was quoted as saying.

He further alleged that mainstream parties had failed to get autonomy restored and therefore the onus of removal of 35-A shall be wholly on them. “It would be in the larger interests of Kashmir if JRL and other pro-freedom groups compel main stream parties to fight for protecting 35-A and other relevant articles and offer them their indirect support so that Huriyat’s own stand on the main burning issue doesn’t get diluted,” Rasheed added.

Terming the ongoing debate about Article 35-A as a ‘controversy’, Rasheed counseled Huriyat to support main stream parties and other trade and business organizations without getting directly getting involved into ‘Article 35-A controversy’ in order to overrule any such impression for new Delhi’s taking that Huriyat and other ‘pro-freedom’ groups had been cornered and thus Kashmir issue could be resolved by ‘pushing Kashmiris to wall’. Er.

Rasheed also warned NC and PDP against playing with the ‘sentiments of masses’ adding that it was NC and PDP who had infused confidence in New Delhi that it was not scared of abrogating special status of J&K by taking legal route.

Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.